No one is going thirsty on May 1, 2011. In celebration of National Lemonade Day on May 1st, students across 31 cities in the United States are opening 120,000lemonade stands. With the mission of inspiring entrepreneurship in younger generations, Lemonade Day shows children that with thoughtful plans, execution and determination, you can accomplish your dreams.

As supporters of Lemonade Day and as a way to continue to excite and encourage strong business values in younger generations, we’re kicking off our first ever genConnect Entrepreneur Week. On a daily basis, genConnect will feature the wisdom from world-class experts and share it across social networks to further spread these messages.

We’re kicking off Entrepreneur Week with tips from Maria Bartiromo, anchor of CNBC’s “Closing Bell With Maria Bartiromo” and author of three best-selling books including The Weekend That Changed Wall Street: An Eyewitness Account, on kids understanding the power of business and entrepreneurship:

Make sure you make a quality lemonade. People will remember the taste, freshness and your attitude during the sale. These are the things that will make the customer come back!

For more of Maria’s business tips for kids on Lemonade Day, click here.

Watch Maria discuss teaching business issues to our youth below:

“I started a small production company and I created an animation on how to teach kids about money,” Maria said. ”I think it is really imperative that we do this as a nation. Because unfortunately, nobody ever teaches you about this stuff. And because you don’t get taught effectively about money issues, you grow up and you get to adulthood and then you have no idea, and you’re too embarrassed to say I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Have fun making the best (and healthiest!) lemonade you can and selling it at a reasonable price. Then see if you can find people who may not be able to afford your awesome lemonade and give it to them for free.

“Although the whole process of creating a business can be rewarding, if you’re like me you might just find that you get the most joy from giving a cup of great lemonade to people who otherwise couldn’t have afforded it.”

THE DAILY: Today we are connecting you with the true experts behind the planning, building and running of the 120,000 lemonade stands throughout the country—the kids! These mini-entrepreneurs are sharing their experiences and tips:

Ayman – 8 yrs old, business: Mix Max Lemonade, opening: May 1, 2011

“To be a sole entrepreneur or to enter into partnership?”

Excerpt: Ayman has decided to be the master of his own fate and go into business as a sole entrepreneur. To overcome his issue of short handedness, he is employing his older sisters. When asked about how he came to this decision he answered: “Employees can be fired but partners cannot! “

“Investors aren’t always the ones you think of first OR always have a Plan B”

Excerpt: Shea spoke to her favorite local restaurant about her plans, her challenges and her new ideas. The restaurant was so moved by her story, not only did they give her permission to have her stand at their restaurant but they are doing everything they can to make her stand a success – advertising it on their website, offering specials and connecting to the community. Talk to everyone about your business – spending too much effort on the “perfect” investor may make you miss the opportunity right in front of you.

Lydia, Business: Lydia’s Homemade Lemonade, Opened: May 3, 2009

“Fail fast and then fix it”

Excerpt: Lydia’s second year, she did not win ‘Best Tasting’ and she decided to move her stand location – it didn’t work out for her. Her stand was not as successful but it taught her that businesses will have their ups and down as the years go on. Despite failures from last year, Lydia decided to stay involved in Lemonade Day. Learning from last year though, she is changing her location. Her goals are simple: To be successful and for everyone to know about Lydia’s Homemade Lemonade – the Best Tasting Lemonade in the state of Texas.

Click here for more tips from little entrepreneurs and to read their full stories

“The best advice is not to be afraid of failure because so often women stop themselves from taking risks, from pursuing their dreams because they’re afraid of failure. All I can say is failure is not the opposite of success. It’s really a stepping-stone of success and everyone has failed along the way to success.”

“The best advice that I’d give any woman starting out in any career is to not give up. Continue doing everything they want to do and before you know it, you really will be able to succeed. In the beginning it’s very hard and most women get discouraged and they shouldn’t be. They need to stick with it and have determination to go forward; as you go forward and build a reputation, you’ll go from better job to better job.” Who did it come from?” My mother-in-law, Estee. She said. ‘Get it done yesterday!’”

“It’s tough. Journalism in general is shrinking and you have to be even more focused that you want to do it than ever. You have to focus on what you want to do, develop an expertise and create a situation where they can’t tell you no.”

THE DAILY: Today, the Lemonade Day team and its Founder, Michael Holthouse, share guidelines to prepare, manage, and successfully get through a crisis on the job:

Be proactive to better control the message. If the media can’t get an answer from you, they will find another source – and you might not agree with their choice or what they include in their story.

The public is forgiving of everything except for an ongoing lie or blatant evasion. It’s the end of your credibility not just in this situation but moving forward.

Determine who needs to be notified in the event of a crisis and how should they be informed? Do all the regional teams and agencies need to be notified? Is the crisis contained or national reaching?

Do not answer speculative questions. If the reporter is taking you down this path you can simply say, ” I understand where you are going but at this point it’s all hypothetical until we collect more facts, so it’s really premature for any of us to guess.”

Entrepreneur and Giving Back Expert Sam Wyly. Sam is a self-made billionaire, author and founder of Green Mountain Energy, the nation’s leading retail electricity provider that’s dedicated to cleaner energy.

Check back to this page daily for a new message from a world-class expert on genConnect.

Lemonade Day was launched in 2007 through Holthouse’s non-profit, Prepared 4 Life, an organization which helps youth become socially conscious adults, who in turn, will give back to their communities and younger generations. Today Lemonade Day inspires hundreds of thousands, and by 2013, expect to see 1 million lemonade stands across 100 US cities. Click here to learn how you can support Lemonade Day.

We first learned about Lemonade Day when introduced to Holthouse at the Aspen Ideas Festival(which is a yearly confab of the greatest minds in business, philanthropy, the arts, journalism and more).Click on the videos below to connect with Michael Holthouse:

“We’re showing kids at an early age how to obtain The American Dream, ” said Michael Holthouse, founder of Lemonade Day. “Metaphorically, we’re showing them that whatever they want to accomplish in life, you can follow a set of steps that will get you to where you want to be.”

Share: What are you doing to spread entrepreneurship and positive change in your community?

About Michael Holthouse: After eight years of research, including the evaluation and funding of many children’s programs by the Holthouse Foundation for Kids, community leader, philanthropist and entrepreneur Michael Holthouse and his wife, Lisa, have founded Prepared 4 [...]View author profile.

Featured Videos

HOT FLASH HAVOC Empowering, Enlightening & Entertaining Film

HOTFLASHHAVOC is enlightening, entertaining, humorous, profound, and is a crash-course in what you need to know about menopause. It has the power to be a life-changing experience for every woman.

This film not only sheds insightful light on the confusion stemming from a decade of misguided facts, but conveys poignant stories shared by real women and in-depth interviews with the world’s most noted experts. HOTFLASHHAVOC provides compelling information about menopause that will empower women for the “Second Act” of their lives.

Spread the word about the film. Offer the film on your website->Click here and Enroll.

Follow the Wisdom

About genConnect

genConnect is your place to create genuine connections to world-class experts on what matters to you. Learn, share and engage with experts and each other through articles, videos, Q&A, events and online chats to enrich your career, health, relationships and lifestyle. To be informed of the latest contributions from our experts and receive special offers, click here to sign up.